Talking Point

NDABA NKOMO | Friday February 26, 2010 00:00

I came across this article, which celebrates white supremacy and its 'indisputable' good of colonising Africa and running it efficiently. Using facts and figures some arguments are near impossible to ignore. The writer of this article has to be given credit for a daring stance that goes against the grain in what has been concluded about African history. The ideas are thought -provoking for any reader with an interest in African issues.

There has to be an attempt to test these facts for the record. Many white folks will never admit in public that the direction Africa has taken since the fall of colonialism is unfortunate at best. The once thriving economies are threatened by corruption of shocking levels. Leaders want to rule until The Maker calls them back home.

Constitutions are often under threat to be amended to suit certain interests.  Thabo Mbeki wanted a third term in Polokwane, Robert Gabriel Mugabe will never step down, Idi Amini had to be forced out of power, Sam Nujoma once entertained calls for him to be a life president, Mobuto Seseko used to lend his country some money from his Swiss accounts and the list goes on.

But how far true or untrue are Lamprecht's assertions? If they aren't, why do our white counterparts seem to be more organised and more able? Why is Africa the poorest continent in the world in site of being the richest in resources? Only facts can determine the truth.

Lamprecht writes; 'Why is Japan the second richest nation on earth yet it has no natural resources, and it is far from suppliers markets? The question then is; why are blacks starving in the land of milk and honey?'

The questions Lamprecht asks are rhetorical and impossible to ignore. In fact, they trigger further questioning.

Consider this; if the Japanese were born in Africa where would they be today? Why is it that countries led by white people fare much better? In countries where whites have been uprooted and chased away like Zimbabwe there is no currency of their own? How come so few could feed millions in Zimbabwe and beyond borders, yet war vets in their thousands have failed dismally to even feed themselves.

Lamprecht interrogates further, ' Why is South Africa the powerhouse of Africa? Answer: More whites lived in South Africa than any other place else, and white rule ended just 16 years ago.'

I have thought about this as well. Why are blacks struggling when their houses are erected on diamond fields and gold mines?

How come our vast fertile lands unlike any other continent in the world cannot feed all of us? How come a land so rich asks for food donations? In the developed world there is serious shortage of space and land. When driving from Bulawayo to Harare or Francistown to Gaborone, Beitbridge to Johannesburg there is vast lands lying idle.  Are we destined to survive on handouts and freebies?

My quest to understand the truth has led me to the pages of many books including the bible and at times I wonder if the story about a man who cursed his son for laughing at his nakedness pronounced a curse to the black people, Genesis 9 verse 25-27.  'Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall be unto his brethren and blessed be the Lord God of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant and God shall enlarge Japheth and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant.'

Are we fulfilling some sort of divine instruction or prophecy that we are to serve others? Even the donor funds, which are meant for the poor find their way into fat bank accounts of corrupt leaders. Is this the fate of Africa - poverty, disease and wars?  Were we designed to be self-destructive?  When Zimbabwe obtained her independence in 1980 the country's dollar was equivalent to a British pound.  Today there is no currency in that country. Why? Against this background Lamprecht says, 'Handouts to Africa achieved little or nothing and will continue to achieve little or nothing. Colonialism did what foreign aid cannot, run Africa efficiently.'   Before the fall of colonialism in Africa, there were no donations of aid in billions of dollars. There was enough to generate surplus. The African forests were transformed into concrete jungle and industry. Systems were organised and saved their purpose. Many young professionals acquired property and assets.

Most fleets of buses and huge trucks on African roads today can be traced back to black leaders inheriting well-run countries. University education has not done enough to make African leaders anymore capable than their white counterparts during colonialism many of which did not have anything beyond basic numeric figures.

Colonialism and its brutal rule over the black people was a sad chapter of African history. We should do better by running this continent efficiently. If we don't the cruel vices of old will be justified as having been a better option for the black Africans. If this is not possible Jan's article will be nothing but the painful truth!